Right to Safe Schools: A Newly Recognized Inalienable Right

• NCJ Number: 136235
• Author(s): K A Sawyer
• Date Published: 1984
• Length: 35 pages
• Grant Number(s): 85-MU-CX-0003
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Corporate Author: National School Safety Ctr
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Reprinted from the Pacific Law Journal, V 14, N 4 (July 1983), P 1309-1341

Annotation

This discussion of legal issues related to school safety focuses on California law and judicial decisions establishing that safe schools are an inalienable right for children.

Abstract

In June 1982 California voters approved Proposition 8, known as The Victims' Bill of Rights. This proposition amended the California Constitution and included a provision on safe schools. Federal and State case law suggests ways in which the courts can enforce this right, even without implementing legislation. Although the safe schools provision does not specify a particular remedy for a violation, remedies could include injunctive relief or damages under tort and constitutional theory. Although some of the methods used by school districts to prevent crime and violence on school campuses are costly, the courts will not allow lack of finances as a defense to implementing measures to address crime and violence. When funds are restricted, school officials should consider less costly measures such as revised discipline policies, because a clear and strictly enforced discipline policy has been found to have a positive effect on school violence and vandalism. Footnotes